GIRAFFES [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Those of your
readers who are interested in the speed and gait of the giraffe, which has been the subject of corres- pondence in your columns, will find an authoritative discussion of the subject in Mr. Marius Maxwell's Stalking Big Game with a Camera, published last year. The gallop is illustrated by a series of photographs, taken from a pursuing car, which leave no doubt as to the correctness of the analysis given in the text. According to Mr. Maxwell the giraffe has only two distinct gaits, the rack-like walk and the transverse gallop, although he recognizes a temporary modification of the walking gait in special circumstances.
The speed was estimated from the speedometer readings when the car was just keeping level with the flying animal.
" The speed at which the giraffe can travel when driven to its utmost varies between twenty-eight and thirty-two miles per hour for a distance of a couple of miles or so, and is about as much as a car can perform at a breakneck speed for this kind of country. The speed of the giraffe varies, naturally, according to the age and condition of the animal. The main thing is to press the galloping animals to their utmost speed at first, and the heavy bulls soon get blown and can be ridden into."
—I am, Sir, &c.,
E. N. DA C. ANDRADE.
The Royal Institution, 21 Albemarle Street, London, W. 1.
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